Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker facts for kids
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Scharffen Berger factory in 2008
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| Industry | Food |
| Fate | Acquired by Hershey Company in 2005, returned to private ownership in 2021 |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Founder | John Scharffenberger Robert Steinberg |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Chocolate |
| Parent | Hershey (2005–21) |
Scharffen Berger is an American company that makes chocolate. It started in 1996 in Berkeley, California. Two friends, John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg, created it.
What makes Scharffen Berger special is that they make their chocolate "from bean to bar." This means they start with cocoa beans and do every step themselves. Most chocolate companies buy chocolate from others. Scharffen Berger was the first American company in 50 years to do this. They mostly make dark chocolate bars with a lot of cocoa solids.
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How Scharffen Berger Started
The company's story began with its founders, John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg. In 1989, Robert Steinberg, who was a doctor, got sick. He decided to explore new things. A friend suggested he read a chocolate cookbook. This made Steinberg very interested in making chocolate.
He started traveling to learn how chocolate is made. In 1993, he visited a chocolate company in France. He even got to work there for two weeks to learn more.
Meeting the Founders
After his trip, Steinberg met John Scharffenberger. John was a winemaker and a former patient of Steinberg's. John was looking for new business ideas. Steinberg offered John a piece of French chocolate he had. John later said it was the best chocolate he had ever tasted.
Scharffenberger and Steinberg decided to work together. They started making chocolate in Steinberg's home kitchen. They used over 30 different kinds of cacao beans. Their tools were simple: a mortar and pestle, a coffee grinder, and even a hair dryer to keep the chocolate warm.
They named their new company Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker. John Scharffenberger's name was already known because of his winemaking business.
Making Chocolate "Bean to Bar"
By 1997, they made their first big batch of chocolate in a small factory. They used old German machines and simple ingredients. These included special Criollo beans from Venezuela and Tahitian vanilla. Within four years, the company moved to a new factory in Berkeley.
Scharffen Berger carefully chose its cocoa beans from farms around the world. Then, they did every step themselves to turn the beans into chocolate bars. This included roasting the beans, conching (mixing and grinding), tempering (heating and cooling), and molding the bars.
Scharffen Berger was also the first American chocolate maker to clearly show how much cocoa was in their chocolate on the label. A higher number means the chocolate is darker and has a stronger taste. Now, many chocolate companies do this.
Joining and Leaving Hershey
On July 25, 2005, Scharffen Berger announced that The Hershey Company was buying them. Hershey bought Scharffen Berger for about $10 million. Hershey also bought another company called Joseph Schmidt Confections. They put both smaller companies together under one new company.
Hershey then started making Scharffen Berger products in a factory in Illinois. In 2009, Hershey decided to close the factories in the San Francisco Bay Area. This meant about 150 local workers lost their jobs, and all production moved to Illinois.
Robert Steinberg, one of the founders, passed away on September 17, 2008.
After more than 15 years, Hershey decided to sell some of its brands in 2020. This included Scharffen Berger. Hershey wanted to focus on other snacks. In June 2021, Scharffen Berger became an independent company again.
Chocolate and Fair Practices
Some groups have asked chocolate companies like Hershey to make sure their cocoa is sourced fairly. This means making sure that the cocoa farms do not use child labor and that farmers are paid fairly.
A campaign called "Raise the Bar, Hershey!" started in 2010. It asked Hershey to promise to stop child labor in its cocoa supply. It also asked Hershey to buy more cocoa that is "Fair Trade Certified." This means the cocoa meets certain standards for workers and the environment.
In 2012, a store called Whole Foods Market stopped selling Scharffen Berger products. This was because of concerns about Hershey's cocoa sourcing. On the same day, Hershey announced that it would buy 100% certified cocoa for its products by 2020. This was to help stop child labor in cocoa farming areas.
What People Thought
The famous chef Julia Child once said that Scharffen Berger was the best chocolate she had ever tasted in the United States.
See also
